Museveni, however, promised that he will ask security operatives to review cases of each of them and have those with minor cases released.
President Yoweri Museveni has asked police operatives to work on releasing individuals who were arrested during the elections period.
Last week, the Internal Affairs Minister, Jeje Odongo tabled before Parliament a list of 177 missing Ugandans who he said are in detention following their arrest during and after the January 14 polls.
The Internal Affairs Minister read that 43 of the persons were arrested for participating in the riots, 156 found in possession of military stores and 17 arrested from meetings planning post-election protests while six were released on police bond.
Summing up the figures, Odongo’s list indicated that a total of 222 people were arrested by security operatives meaning details of 45 people are still unknown.
“Today I am presenting to you a list of 177 clearly identifying the person, the date when the person was arrested, the place where the person was arrested from, the reason why the person was arrested and the case management history,” Odongo readout.
“Six persons were released on police bond. ln conclusion, going forward, l would like to inform the house and the general public that a copy of this list is at police headquarters with the office of the Chief Political Commissar. The public is encouraged to check with that office the whereabouts of their missing persons and to get permission to visit them,” he added.
In the same session, however, many opposition legislators told parliament that many of their constituents were not on the minister’s list citing that the number could be even higher than the said 177.
However, during the IPOD Summit function held at the Kololo grounds on Friday, Museveni said that he was aware of some individuals that had been detained during the election period for being violent.
Museveni said many were also arrested after they posed threats of intended post-election protests.
The president, however, promised that he will ask security operatives to review cases of each of them and have those with minor cases released.
“I have information about the disappearance of people. The security forces also have some information on this same and this will be made available in a disciplined way. I will ask the DPP to review each case and recommend a soft landing for each of the people arrested. Most of them have been misled,” Museveni said.
